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Abstract
The core question of this dissertation is whether or not Mexicans structure their opinions on foreign policy matters in a purposeful, goal-oriented and instrumental way. Foreign policy attitudes have traditionally been assumed to be underdeveloped and disorganized. This work aims at being a first cut to the study of the organizing principles that shape foreign policy perceptions in Mexico: how public attitudes are structured and why. Using survey data from Mexico, The Americas and the World 2010 conducted by Mexico's Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), this dissertation builds on Page and Bouton's (2006) theory of "Purposive Belief Systems", a hierarchical structural model where individual policy preferences are constrained by basic values that reflect individuals' choice of the foreign policy goals to be pursued by the state. These, in turn, follow from political predispositions and fundamental beliefs. This study taps theoretically at the question of individual rationality and opinion formation. It challenges the view that citizens possess "non-attitudes", and thus rarely engage in reasoning about public policy. From a policy and political perspective, this study addresses the salient question of including the preferences of the mass public as an essential feature of democratic governance. The underlying assumption is that national values should shape the outcomes of political decision-making in foreign policy matters. Policies analyzed relate exclusively to the U.S.-Mexico agenda with a specific focus on bilateral cooperation involving fighting drug trafficking and organized crime.
